MARK Hughes selflessly shifted the spotlight to his record-breaking players after today's 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion.Charlie Adam's 87th minute winner - after a Gareth McAuley own goal had earlier given Stoke the lead - left his side hitting his pre-season target of 50 points on the final day of the campaign.And with Newcastle going down at Liverpool, as anticipated, Stoke's victory secured ninth spot in the Premier League."Yes, a great end of season," said Hughes after today's triumph."We talked at length at the beginning of the season about what we wanted to achieve and any target has to be realistic."Maybe some of the guys thought I was being unrealistic because it was a big ask and maybe earlier in the season it was a bit of a struggle."But in the second half of the season it was fantastic and we were getting results."To get 50 points on the board in the hardest league in the world is a great achievement for a club like Stoke."Historically, that easily gets you a top-10 place, so we set a target of 50 plus and we are delighted because it's no mean feat."On today's game he added: "I thought we had a lot of control, certainly first half, and second half allowed West Brom to have a little periood of pressure."But I always felt we had more than enough to take the game away from them."Stoke's stirring conclusion to his first season in charge provided an entertaining vindication to appoint him last May.And Hughes admitted: "Yes, I have really enjoyed it. But that's due to the application of the players and how they have embraced everything."It doesn't happen by chance. You have to put hours in and put the right quality to the group."It doesn't happen overnight and credit to them."Thankfully, they have got their reward this year."Hughes said Peter Odemwingie deserved credit for turning the other cheek this afternoon after a hostile reception from his old fans whenever he touched the ball."He did ok. It was always going to be a little difficult for him and on another day would have scored a couple of goals."But probably with his enthusiasm to score he snatched at a couple of chances."

6 comments

Well, another season has come to a close and I am sure that all Stoke City fans will be very satisfied. It was nice to finish off with our traditional win against Albion to reach 50 points and ninth in the Premiership. I also must apologise to Mark Hughes. I wasn't happy about the change of manager and more so when he was appointed but he has done brilliantly and was true to his word when he said that we can finish in the top ten. Having said that, it cannot escape anyone's attention just how well TP has done at Crystal Palace. If we look at our performances over the season I am sure that most fans will pick the wins against Chelsea, Man Utd and perhaps even Arsenal but for me it was the 4-1 win at Aston Villa. I thought that we were absolutely brilliant that day when everything that Mark Hughes had been working for came together. I have just seen the news about the refusal of a work permit for Juan Agudelo and that is a blow but if we can keep Assaidi, either permanently or on another season long loan then that would soften the blow somewhat. We need to build on this season and that will be a big ask but if we can bring in quality players then it is achievable. One last thing, the sponsorship of the stadium is due to come to an end shortly and now that Britannia no longer exists having been taken over by the Co-operative. I really hope that the stadium doesn't become the Co-operative Stadium. Personally, having been a Britannia customer since it was founded, I am disgusted that the "money losing" Co-op have taken it over and plan to get my money out off there ASAP.

Thanks for all the enjoyment and bringing the football ethos back to this part of the Potteries. Can we now fill in the corners and get another 5000 season tickets sold. The extra money generated, 1 million plus for finishing 9th instead of 10th would go a long way towards ensuring it would not come out of the playing budget. Well done to Peter Coates for bringing Mark Hughes in and Mark for bringing his backroom boys in they obviously have motivated the squad. Can we now finally acknowledge what TP did and move on, no more mentioning of our exmanager he is getting enough coverage in the southern media !!!!!!

Wow! What an end to an amazing season. First of all I must give an apology to our manager Mark Hughes, the reason for this is because when he was first appointed I was saying that he was not the man to run our great club and to live in the shadow of the high calibre Tony Pulis. For us to finish 9th in the Premiership after Mark's first season is quite an unbelievable achievement, and let's hope that the Potters can build upon this and next season give the big spending money clubs a run for their money.
I would like to congratulate our former manager Tony Pulis for the success he's had at his new club Crystal Palace and the way he changed them from relegation certainties to a very respectable 11th place in the Premiership,(let's hope that Palace don't beat Stoke next season).

thanks to all concerned at SCFC, you have done us proud.Thanks Sparky for getting us to play football instead of hoofball, thanks to the Coates family for having the courage to install a new manager, thanks T for all you did for us but we needed a change in style and finally thanks to all the fans for supporting our beloved Potters